Softball Game Preview: Highland Hawks vs. Williams Field Black Hawks

Highland is preparing for their first region matchup of the season on Tuesday. They will welcome the Williams Field Black Hawks at 6:00 p.m. Highland will aim to continue their four-game streak of scoring more runs each match than the last.

Highland's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. Everything went their way against Mesa as Highland made off with an 18-0 win. Considering the Hawks have won eight contests by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Cambria Chacon looked comfortable as she didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out ten over four innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one earned run any time she's pitched this season.

On the hitting side, Collin Hess and Alena Mascarenas did most of the damage at the plate: Hess got on base in all four of her plate appearances with one home run, three RBI, and one stolen base, while Mascarenas went a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. That's the most RBI Mascarenas has posted since back in April of 2024. Another player making a difference was MiaLani Ocampo, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2.

Meanwhile, Thursday just wasn't the day for Williams Field's offense. They lost 10-0 to Red Mountain on Thursday. The Black Hawks have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Highland pushed their record up to 9-6 with the victory, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.2 runs on average over those games. As for Williams Field, their loss dropped their record down to 6-6-1.

Everything went Highland's way against Williams Field in their previous meeting back in March of 2021, as Highland made off with a 14-5 victory. Does Highland have another victory up their sleeve, or will Williams Field turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.